In 2021, when the United States announced it would withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, it promised to take along all the Afghans who had worked with the US government or military. An operation called “Allies Welcome” was created to provide vulnerable Afghan allies, who were under direct threat from the Taliban, a pathway to seek safety in America and make it their new home.

Fatima Faizi, Hamed Ahmadi, and Yasser Arwand are three young Afghans among the 80,000 people evacuated by the US army under this program. All three had to flee Kabul with a backpack, leaving their families behind. 

However, nearly two years after being in the US, Fatima, Hamed, and Yasser are struggling to call America home. Humanitarian parole, a temporary legal status assigned to these Afghans upon entering the US, is set to expire in August 2023, after which they fear the possibility of being deported back to Afghanistan. All three have applied for asylum, but it could take months, if not years, for them to get an answer from the overburdened asylum system. 

This film documents the mental turmoil that comes from a lack of permanence abroad and a fractured homeland you can’t return to. It follows Fatima, Hamed, and Yasser through their first year of resettlement in the US—from finding housing and seeking employment to navigating their legal options to remain in the US. We follow their journey as they settle into everyday American life—grocery shopping, exploring their new cities, and their first Fourth of July, all whilst remaining in fear about the safety of their family and friends back home in Afghanistan. 

We also contrast these Afghans’ journeys in the wider socio-political landscape. Beginning 2022, as the world’s attention shifts to Ukrainian refugees, these Afghans feel abandoned by the US, which passed several bills to support Ukrainians fleeing war but never voted on a proposed bill granting permanent residency to Afghan allies. 

Many refugee stories involve using their precarious conditions to elicit empathy from viewers. This film intends to counter that narrative by highlighting refugees who are not “uncivilized”, but rather educated, skilled, and self-sufficient. Yet, our characters are prevented from being integrated into American society because of legal hurdles associated with their temporary parole status and the stereotypes often raised against refugees. 

This vérité film is a story of migration, hope, and loss. It weaves animation, archival and documentary footage to capture the story of three young people trying to build a home away from a home that cannot be returned to. It also puts a human face to the consequences of America’s longest, and perhaps most complicated, war.